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markable incident; and in the morning of the 29th we crossed our first meridian, having circumnavigated the globe in the direction from east to west, and consequently lost a day, for which we made an allowance at Batavia.

At day-break on the first of May, we saw the island of Saint Helena; and at noon we anchored in the road before James's fort.

We staid here till the 4th, to refresh, and Mr Banks improved the time in making the complete circuit of the island, and visiting the most remarkable places upon it. At one o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of May, we weighed and stood out of the road, in company with the Portland man-of-war, and twelve sail of Indiamen.

We continued to sail in company with the fleet, till the 10th in the morning, when, perceiving that we sailed much heavier than any other ship, and thinking it for that reason probable that the Portland would get home before us, I made the signal to speak with her, upon which Captain Elliot himself came on board, and I delivered to him a letter to the Admiralty, with a box, containing the common logbooks of the ship, and the journals of some of the officers. We continued in company, however, till the 23d in the morning, and then there was not one of the ships in sight. About one o'clock in the afternoon, died our first lieutenant, Mr Hicks, and in the evening we committed his body to the sea, with the usual ceremonies. The disease of which he died was a consumption, and as he was not free from it when we sailed from England, it may truly be said that he was dying during the whole voyage, though his decline was very gradual till we came to Batavia: The next day I gave Mr Charles Clerk an order to act as lieutenant in his room, a young man who was extremely well qualified for that sta tion.

Our rigging and sails were now become so bad, that something was giving way every day. We continued our course, however, in safety till the 10th of June, when land, which proved to be the Lizard, was discovered by Nicholas Young, the same boy that first saw New Zealand; on the 11th we run up the Channel, at six in the morning of the 12th we passed Beachy Head, at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

An Abstract of the VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, performed by LEWIS DE BOUGAINVILLE, Colonel of Foot, and Commander of the Expedition, in the Frigate La Boudeuse, and the Store-ship L'Etoile, in the Years 1766-7-8 and 9. (Drawn up expressly for this Work.)

THE restitution of the Falkland Islands to the Spaniards. was the first object of this voyage. So early as February 1764, France had commenced a settlement on them, and in all probability would have ensured its prosperity; but the property was claimed by Spain, in virtue of the old and at best imaginary rights conferred on that power by the Pope to the lands of the western hemisphere, of which they were held to be a part. It is sometimes more politic, and perhaps almost always more convenient, to avoid war, by the display of generosity in concession, than to run the hazard of expensive contension, and an unprofitable issue, by the obstinate maintenance of dubious advantages. Such seems to have been the opinion of the French king, in this instance. He acknowledged the claim of the Spaniards, and accordingly gave orders for the delivering up of the settlement. In this determination, it is probable, he was strengthened by the apprehension of the difficulties of supporting and defending an establishment, at so great a distance from his dominions. M. Bougainville, the person who had proposed the settlement, and in a considerable degree accomplished it, by carrying out several French families, and cultivating and stocking some parts of the islands, was appointed to execute a formal surrender; and he was further instructed, after doing so, to traverse the South Sea between the tropics, for the purpose of making discoveries, and to return home by the East Indies. The fulfilment of these directions constitutes his voyage round the world, with a short, but it is believed satisfactory abstract of which, it is now intended to supply the reader. The account of the

voyage was drawn up and published by Bougainville himself, and has always been highly esteemed by his countrymen, who are commonly patriotic enough in their commendations. In this instance, however, if one may judge from the concurrence in opinion of others, their praise has not been injudicious; though it must be admitted on the other hand, that the partiality is ridiculous, which would place it above the narratives of Anson's and Cook's Voyages. Bougainville seems to have been a man of talents, of refined taste, and considerable literary acquirements; and his work, though, as he says in his introduction, written for seamen chiefly, yet presents some very interesting features to the general reader, and not a little information to scientific observers. He has thought proper to apologize for his deficiency in composition; but it is questionable if this be not mere affectation, common with writers who are far from thinking too meanly of themselves, for the reasons they chuse to state in the way of deprecating critical severity, and abundantly disposed to attach magnitude of consequence to the very particulars which they have employed to indicate their own inferiority. A translation of his work by Mr John Reinhold Forster, was published at London 1772, and contains additional notes. This has principally been consulted in drawing up the present abstract, which is intended as a companion to the accounts of voyages it is the object of our work to give entire. This is the proper place for its insertion, if it be right to insert it at all, and opportunities will present themselves as we proceed, for giving similar abstracts of other voyages.

Bougainville had under his command the frigate La Boudeuse, carrying 26 twelve-pounders, and the store-ship L'Etoile, appointed to supply him with provisions and stores, and to accompany him during the whole of his voyage. His establishment consisted of eleven commissioned officers, three volunteers, and two hundred sailors, &c. The prince of Nassau-Sieghen obtained leave from the king to go out on this expedition, and availed himself of it. He sailed from Nantes on the 15th November, 1766, purposing to make the river La Plata, where two Spanish frigates, appointed to receive possession of the islands, were to wait for his arrival. A squall of wind occasioned him much confusion, and forced him to put into Brest, whence, after having undergone several repairs and alterations,

which the deficient state of his vessel rendered necessary, he departed on the 5th December, but not without being obliged to cut his cable, as the east wind and the ebb tide prevented his tacking about to keep clear of the shore. A pretty constant and fresh wind accompanied him, till he got sight of the Salvages on the 17th, in the afternoon. These are uninhabited islands or rocks, lying to the north of the Canary islands, and belong to the Portuguese, who, although making little or no use of them, are jealously careful to prevent others from visiting or profiting by them. The sight of these rocks convinced M. Bougainville of a considerable error in his reckoning, during even this short trip. Having rectified it, and made observations for their position, he took a fresh departure on the 19th December, at noon, when he got sight of the Isle of Ferro. On the 8th of January, he crossed the Line between 27° and 28° of longitude, and on the 31st of the same month, after an easy and uninteresting voyage, came to an anchor in Monte Video bay, where the Spanish frigates had lain expecting him four weeks. He made some observations on the currents noticed during this voyage, which are well known to occasion much error in the calculations of the navigator; but as these are not interesting to the general reader, they are omitted here, and the more properly so, because we have had frequent occasion to notice the subject in our accounts of other voyages.

Bougainville left Monte Video on the 28th February, in company with the Spanish ships, but having encountered a storin and a good deal of contrary wind, he did not quit the river till the 3d March. The voyage to the Falkland Islands was rough and troublesome, especially to the two Spanish frigates, which suffered a good deal during the course, and were for some time separated from Bougainville's ship. On the 23d and 24th of March, however, they all arrived at the place of their destination, where a formal surrender of the settlement was made according to the instructions of the two governments. The islands were delivered up on the 1st April, the Spaniards taking possession by planting their colours, which were saluted both on shore and from aboard the vessels. Several families resident there availed themselves of the French king's permission to remain under the new government, and the others embarked in the Spanish frigates to return home. M. Bou

gainville

gainville has related several particulars respecting the history of these islands, which, however, it is quite unnecessary to consider here, as we have either already stated them, or may hereafter have occasion to do so; they are, besides, little connected with our present object, that of tracing his course round the world.

As the store-ship did not join him at the time expected, and as it was impossible for him to traverse the Pacific Ocean, without the supplies and assistance she was appointed to afford, Bougainville resolved to quit these islands, and go to Rio Janeiro, the place specified as the rendezvous to both vessels. He sailed therefore on the 2d June, got in sight of the high head-lands of the Brazils on the 20th, and in the evening of the following day came to an anchor in the roads of Rio Janeiro, where the Etoile had arrived but a few days before. Being still, however, imperfectly furnished with provisions, he returned to Monte Video, as a fitter place for procuring them. The Etoile being a bad sailer, and having made a good deal of water, he was retarded in this voyage, which in consequence took him up from the 14th to the 31st of July. A little before his departure, he rendered some important services to a Spanish man-of-war, which had been obliged to put into Rio Janeiro to refit for her voyage to Europe, and was most ungenerously denied what was needful by the Portuguese government, for eight months. The viceroy seems to have been of an unfeeling and absurdly consequential disposition, of which some instances have been already related in our account of another voyage.

Whilst lying in Monte Video bay, a register ship ran foul of the Etoile during a hurricane, and did her so much damage, as to render it necessary to heave her down to be repaired. This was done at the Encenada de Baragan up the river, Monte Video itself not having proper accommo dation for the purpose. But the requisite repairs were after all accomplished with much difficulty, and at a great expence of money, and occupied the whole of the month of October. To add to these sources of regret, this vessel had the misfortune to lose three of her crew, in returning down the river to Monte Video, a passage, which, though short, is described as very difficult, and requiring almost constant soundings to avoid danger. This accident happened from the boat containing them and other two men getting foul

under

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